Profile
Jeannie Driver
The idea of the line has always been central to my work. At times, I imagine myself as the line; at other times, the lines become barriers or bars, creating inside and outside spaces. Yet, each line holds the potential to shift or be shifted.
Drawing on paper is a quiet, meditative process, guided by rhythm and time. I envision lines suspended along a predetermined drawing "spine," often using the symbolic form of an ellipse. I challenge myself to render each line in sync with the breath, rising and falling with it. My goal is to seek order and control, considering both the line and the pause. This process allows me to reflect on life experiences and pursue states of calm while engaging with conceptual ideas of duplication and replication.
Created in series, these drawings use the same spine and can be viewed as plans or stills for durational, large-scale installed drawings that relate to the dimensions of my body.
The expanded drawings or installations "lift the drawing off the page" into three-dimensional space, always at a human scale, establishing a physical connection with myself and the viewer. These works are intentionally unfixed, relying on gravity and the interplay of light and shadow. They offer no singular perspective or time, instead playing with visual perception and inviting an experience rather than an image to be consumed.
Throughout my practice, I prioritise sustainability, embracing responsibility and accessibility in my materials. I often reuse or repurpose materials, destroying, cutting, or tearing them to reconstruct new works. The material line I use for installations, how it hangs, moves, and what it represents, is significant to me. As part of my Drawing Kit, these "lines" are made from shredded A4 paper documents, coated in charcoal, embedding their data and histories.
My approach references other visual traditions, including Sol LeWitt's instructions for wall drawings, Lygia Clark's unstable Bichos sculptures, and Jesús Rafael Soto's works such as Horizontal Movement at Tate St Ives.
Reach Out!
Art is a shared experience. I love collaborating with fellow artists, galleries, and art lovers. Feel free to reach out to discuss potential collaborations, projects, or simply to connect.
Send me an email for further details on particular works and I'll send a PDF. We can also arrange in persons or virtual studio visits.
As a guide drawings start from £200, relief works, from £1200, and installations from £1500.
BIO
Jeannie Driver. (B. London, 1966) gained an BA and MA distinction in 1999 from University of Portsmouth. Jeannie went on to work in Public Art and Socially Engaged practice developing innovative artworks and projects. As Lead Artist and Creative Consultant she won awards including from the National Campaign for Drawing, and Sustainable Communities Awards. Many of these projects that utilised new technologies. In 2007 Driver was awarded ACE funding to develop her SPIKE IT project, exploring issues of work, flow and waste with office workers in seven offices within the private and public sectors. Following this project Driver gained a studio at Art Space Portsmouth and developed her series of works, Hard Graph, prior to her current approach of Lifting the Drawing off the Page.
Driver's subsequent installations and works have been exhibited nationally in commercial and public galleries. Solo exhibitions include, Degrees of Ambiguity, CourtX, Manifestations of a Cube, Jack House Gallery, When Contents Become Form, Arbyte Gallery, Hackney Wick. Duo exhibitions include Dazzle + Disrupt, Quay Arts, IOW and Ubiquitous Materials, SHP. Selected group shows include Edge to Edge, Cello Factory, Waterloo, Iterations, Art House 1, Bermondsey, FOUND, Woolff Gallery, London, and Preparing the Site, Bank Gallery, Whitechapel. Site Specific installations include Lines of Passage at Salisbury Arts Centre. Artist residencies include ASPEX gallery and Art Studios Oxford.
For back catalogue visit http://www.jeanniedriver.com/home/archive
Download Jeannie Driver's CV here